When it comes to goals, it doesn't hurt to set the bar high. Even if a little unrealistic, setting a so-called stretch goal will push your limits and, in the worst case, you come out with something almost as amazing as having achieved an extraordinary goal.

achievable daily targets to gain momentum and maintain motivation

But when it comes to tasks or milestones that lead to accomplishing a goal, it helps to set the bar low. Achievable tasks provide motivation and momentum, and will encourage you to complete more. Particularly effective when you've been struggling to get started, focusing on short and easy tasks are a reward in themselves – you feel productive and you get closer to a bigger goal. It may not even be a goal but a productive routine that you want to develop, like cleaning your apartment each weekend or going to the gym every day.

The idea is to quickly form a habit by setting small targets that don't overwhelm or discourage you. From there you can optionally increase your effort on an ongoing, session-by-session basis. To begin, aim to knock off easy tasks in short sessions between five and 20 minutes each day – the worse you feel about the task, the smaller your target should be. For example, if you really hate cleaning, set yourself a five to 10-minute target for cleaning one thing, such as a sink, shower or window. If it's something that requires a lot of time, you might need to set a bigger target of 15-20 minutes, like finding references for an upcoming essay. Be realistic and don't over commit yourself.

The 'little more' comes whenever you feel like it, it could even be day one. Whenever you think you could do another five minutes, do it. When you think you could clean another sink, do it! The optional extra effort each session could translate into another 20 push-ups, three new vocabulary, reading two more pages, or reading and deleting 10 emails from your inbox. And if you still feel like doing more, do so! But only do more if you really feel like it, not because you think you should. You want to willingly repeat the session the next day or very soon, so don't stress yourself out about it. Your next session then resets to its achievable target (e.g. five minutes) until you consistently find yourself adding a bit more. When you feel like you're ready to increase a session's time, it should be ever so slightly to keep it manageable, achievable and appealing.

And when you find yourself regularly doing more but you don't want to extend the time any further, challenge yourself with streaks. Keep track of how many days in a row you've completed a particular session. When you break the streak, you start again at one. Either way, you'll be doing more and developing a habit, which is likely to be more than if you set discouragingly long or challenging targets that you avoid or have an excuse for not doing, like not having enough time.

Remember, habits are just things you frequently do, so it's best to aim for daily sessions to quickly turn a session into a habit. If you schedule in one session per week and miss that, it's possible you won't attempt another session for another week, whereas a daily goal is more likely to be attempted again within days. As long as you track the session in a habit tracking grid or calendar or set a daily notification to remind yourself of the scheduled session, you're more likely to complete more sessions within a shorter period.

The key to making this work is in setting achievable daily targets to gain momentum and maintain motivation. Then, at the end of each session, if you feel like it, do a little more. When you start your next session, reset it to the achievable target and only if you don't feel much resistance, do a bit more again. Repeat. Review the daily target if you consistently add around the same extra effort or time. You'll inevitably get more things done, develop a daily habit of working towards a bigger target or goal, and may even find yourself in flow one day. It worked for us on daunting assignments and projects, so we definitely recommend trying this out on something you've been putting on the backburner.